Obstacles in employing evidence-based practice by nurses in their clinical settings: a descriptive study
Article Category: Original article
Published Online: Jul 10, 2019
Page range: 123 - 133
Received: Sep 12, 2018
Accepted: Dec 07, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/FON-2019-0019
Keywords
© 2019 Manal Hamed Mahmoud and Zizi Fikry Mohamed Abdelrasol, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.
Objective
The challenge of employing evidence-based practice (EBP) is multifarious and varied. Nursing interventions supported by research evidence have been exposed to progress positive patient outcomes, while its implementation is faced with various obstacles. This study aimed to identify obstacles in employing EBP by nurses in their clinical settings.
Methods
This descriptive design study was conducted at Benha University Hospital with a convenient sample of 154 nurses. Two tools were utilized: (I) sociodemographic data sheet, which included sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, and (II) interview scale, which contained two parts: (1) obstacles scale, which contained obstacles that impede nurses from the utilization of EBP, and (2) questions to rank the three greatest obstacles in employing EBP by nurses.
Results
The greatest EBP obstacle ranked by nurses was the organizational limitations (90.9%), followed by research quality (86.9%) and research accessibility (51.0%), while individual characteristics (35.9%) were ranked as the least obstacle. There was a significant statistical correlation between organizational limitations, research quality as well accessibility-related obstacles and nurses’ age, level of education, as well their years of work experience (
Conclusions
Findings of this study showed series of obstacles in employing EBP by nurses in their clinical settings, stressing the call for expansion of nurses’ capabilities related to EBP utilization in patients’ care.